“Hey, this case is also a girl. After finishing work, how about I take you out for a bit?”

"I don't date clients."

"Oh, it's as stiff as ever."

“Quiet. Come and finish the job.”

My story began one night. At that time I had been back in my old house for two days. So I set out to collect old things that were left in the house. There's a lot of it. So I brought a lot of old things into my room first. That night I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of strange noises. It sounded like something was scraping against the wall of the room.

But I didn't meet anyone or anything. Found only scratches on the walls of the room.

It's been like this for four days now. Day by day the scraping sound became more and more intense. Sometimes it feels like something is pressing on me when I sleep. It's like a ghost. The hardest was the night before. That night, the sound was louder than ever, so much so that I didn't dare open my eyes to look. Until the morning when I woke up and saw a scratch on my arm. I know that if I told my mother she would go crazy. Please help me.

“It's all like that, right?”

"yes"

I answered the question of the man in black sitting on the sofa in my living room. He didn't look much older than me, probably around 17-18 years old. I was also surprised that the “mystery detective” I hired online was someone close to my age.

“You are Mina, right?”

“Yes, and you are..”

“Jira, you can just call me Jira.”

Jira, this man is rumored on the internet to be the most effective at investigating mysteries. There are many others who do similar things. But most of them are almost all fake.

He has an agreement with every client that he must not reveal details about the cases he investigates except to those close to him, so I can't find any examples.

I also felt uncomfortable letting strangers look around my house, but I had no choice. My friends probably wouldn't believe me, even more so.

I hope I don't make the wrong decision.

“You really have power, don't you..”

I asked because I felt something strange around him, but then again, people who work on things like this couldn't be ordinary people.

“No, I don't have any power.

Jira replied with a sigh.

“I don't have any special powers. I'm no different from you or anyone else. For me, it's more called knowledge. I just have knowledge about these things. Things that most people don't know.”

"I'm a detective, not a sorcerer."

Ah, that's it..

“Then let's get to the point.”

“Have you ever had any mental problems?”

"no"

“Have you had any experience like this before?”

"no! No.”

“Have you done anything to make anyone angry?”

“I don't think so.”

“Did you forget to fix something on something?”

“Eh”

“Have you ever had a really bad memory?”

What, how can you ask like this? Everyone has bad memories. Like losing a lover or friend...

I sat quietly and didn't answer. The man in black seemed to be starting to get annoyed.

“I'm sorry. So let me go look at your room..can I?”

“Ah, yes.”

The two of us walked up the stairs to my bedroom. Next to the room were the things I took out that were piled up outside the room. Jira looked surprised when he saw the thing.

“These things..”

“Oh, those old things I used to carry into the room.”

Jira turned his attention away from it and headed towards my room.

The floor and walls were full of scratches. Even on the furniture itself, almost everything except the watercolors hung at the head of the bed.

“Quiet.”

"yes? ”

“There's nothing.”

Just now it seemed like he was saying something. It was strange.

Jira began to survey the room, looking down at the scratches and searching for their source.

“The marks look like claw marks,” he muttered to himself.

He kept tracing the scratches. From the floor up to the walls of the room

Until reaching the watercolor picture

It's a picture of a beach at sunset. In the picture there is a woman and a dead tree next to her. For others The picture may look depressing, but this picture is very important to me.

Please, don't mess with that picture.

Jira stared at the picture in suspense, muttering to himself. No...it's like he's talking to someone.

“Um, this is definitely a 'gate'.”

“Then it can be concluded.”

Jira turned towards me. His expression was neutral.

“Can I ask you a question? How did you get this picture?”

“Well..it belongs to my friend. She passed away three years ago.”

“And how did you find it?”

“When searching for old things at this house..”

I looked up at Jira. He acted as if he understood something. I feel bad, I don't know.

“This picture is the cause. The things that hurt you come out of this picture.”

“What are you saying? How could this drawing be the cause? ”

“Explaining everything, she probably still doesn't understand, but it's easy to see. from scratches in the room.”

“Every mark points towards the drawing.”

I was quiet for a while. It's true that the scratches come from this picture, but I don't understand how this picture could be the cause. How could the picture my friend had drawn be the cause?

“Then..then what should I do with it..”

I asked hesitantly.

“How do you destroy it?”

“How can you do that? That's a picture of my friend! ”

Jira sighed before speaking.

"I understand. For you, it must be difficult."

“Then I'll do it myself.”

Finished speaking, Jira walked over to remove the picture from the wall. He tried to pull it out several times but couldn't. He exerted all his might, but the picture didn't show any signs of breaking off. He pulled until he began to lose his strength.

“This isn't connected to the wall, is it?”

he asked irritably.

“If you can't pull it out, just break it right here! ”

After saying that, Jira grabbed the scissors and ran in and stabbed at the picture with all her might. Normally, a painting canvas would undoubtedly be torn. Steel scissors should be able to penetrate the fabric easily. But that's not what happened.

The sound of cracking steel sounded. The scissors snapped in two before Jira fell.

“Layla! What is this! ”

“The gate's self-defense system. It seems that only the person who opens it can close it.”

Jira muttered to herself again. But this time I heard a reply. sound like a woman's voice

“The person who opened it..”

Jira walked towards me. His expression was different from before.

“You must be the one to do it.”

“How can I do this? That's different from my friend! ”

“If you don't do it, they'll pop up again.”

“Which ones? What exactly happened here? ”

“Listen-”

A roar interrupted Jira's words. Inhuman arms shot out from the image, just like in a fairy tale. It had gray, dry skin attached to bones. It had no fingers, only claws, followed by its head and body. Its head was human-like, but it had no nose, ears, or lips. On its dry, gray face, there were countless fangs and small pupils.

Many balls spread all over the head. Its body was like a corpse that had dried down to the bones.

“Scream!”

“Sh! The Shamblers? Laila comes out.”

“This one.. a petty-level animal. Still can't handle it. Are you my master now?”

A strange sound rang out. In front of me was a girl with flowing blonde hair. She was wearing a black cloth and accessories, necklaces, and bracelets, all together looking like someone from a fantasy novel.

She kicked the demon that was trying to come towards us, breaking it into two pieces before it dissipated.

“What..a ghost..”

“It never stops coming out.”

The demons flowed out like water. Jira grabbed my arm and ran out of the room. He closed the door and posted a sign with the symbol of five branches on it.

“You won't be able to resist for long.”

"um"

The two of them talked. What is going on here?

“This..what happened here? Where did those monsters come from?! ”

“Those are the Shamblers of your longing.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”

That blonde girl appeared in front of me. I back away

“This is Layla..she is my Familia.”

Jira said uneasily.

"Don't talk like you're embarrassed of me."

“Quiet.”

Now I'm totally confused. No, to sum it up, there's a monster in my room. They come from that picture. What should I do? What should I do?

Suddenly Jira came to me. I probably acted visibly frightened.

“I will explain everything.”

“This world is not the only world that exists. There are many other worlds that exist alongside our world. Normally those worlds are not connected to each other. But there is something that circumvents this rule: “gate”.”

“That picture has a specific pattern so it can be opened into a gate. I don't know how this coincidence happened, but what really brings out the monsters is how you feel about that picture.”

“Simply put, you are the only one who can stop it.”

I stopped thinking for a moment. The monster is in my room because of the picture. Because of my feelings for my friend..why?

“That picture is very important to me.”

“Before, I didn't have many friends and my mother always worked. There is only that girl who is my friend.”

“The day she gave me the picture, I had to move house suddenly so I didn't have time to take it with me. Not long after that, she died.”

“Since then I have always missed you. I feel so sorry that I forgot a single item that looked different. Until I came across that picture again.”

“I'm so glad to see that picture again. I think I will never let it go anywhere again.”

“I can't... destroy it.”

The sound of the door ticking sounded every moment. I knew what I had to do but I couldn't really do it. It may sound silly, but that's how I really feel.

"Wake up," Jira said sternly.

“Do you think your friend is worth just this picture?”

“True, this picture is the only foreign item of your friend. True, her friend probably drew this picture by heart. But the picture is just a piece of cloth.”

“What you feel is different. You are the one who is keeping this feeling.”

“Even if there isn't a single image left in this world, Even if no one remembers her friends Are you going to forget him?”

“You yourself are the evidence against yourself.”

Jira looked down at me, who was sitting with her head bowed. he looked at me

“I don't know your friend but he probably doesn't want you to be like this.”

I still remember it The moment she stood that picture for me At the time, I didn't care what it was. At that time, I only cared about your smile.

Even though the picture has many memories, that's it. What really remembers it It's me!

“It's better to be quick. It won't be able to resist,” Laila said.

“If you open the door, the water that fills the room will overflow. We have to deal with it all at once.”

“I can destroy them all at once. But that girl has to destroy those pictures before they emerge.”

“Mina, I will give the signal and run and destroy that picture.”

"yes"

I hid next to the wall with Jira while Layla stood in front of the door. She pulled out the sign and the door suddenly shattered into pieces. Countless disgusting monsters shot out.

Layla stretched out her hand and chanted some kind of mantra that I couldn't understand. From her hand, a whirlwind shot through the monster wall, shattering it into pieces. The enormous pressure shook the whole house.

“Now, go! ”

I ran in with all my might. It had only been a few seconds but I could see claws trying to crawl out. I lunged for the picture and pulled it out easily. Without hesitation, I slammed the picture onto my knee. The monster's claws disappeared.

I collapsed panting on the floor, my heart pounding. Even though deep down I couldn't help but regret it, it didn't matter. 'Cause you're in my heart

“It's over.” Jira walked past the broken pieces of the door on the floor.

“Yes,” I said, smiling.

“That's good.”

“But what are you going to do with this door..”

“True! If my mother comes to see me, I will surely die.. What should I do? What should I do..?”

“In the contract it is said that I am not responsible if property is damaged.”

“Eh..”

Suddenly, the door floated back in as if by magic.

“Normally, I don't mind this, Laila.”

By the way, where has that girl gone? I don't see you anymore.

I came to deliver Jira to the front of the house along with paying the stipulated wages.

"Then good luck," Jira said before walking away.

“Wait a minute..that is..can I ask you something? ”

“Come on.”

“Why did you come to do this job?”

Jira was silent.

"Well, if you don't-"

"Probably because I can't help but not know."

“Before, I was just like you. But I chose to chase it. Once you start, you have to continue, that's all.”

“And you, now that I see it, do you want to continue?” Jira turned around and asked me.

"um.."

“It's better not. I don't like risky things.”

“That's good.”

Jira replied while smiling. It was the first time I saw him smile.

The man in black walked away. Where he's going, I don't know. Probably going to a place where there's crazy stuff. It's like this again. But my story ends here. You will remain in my memory forever.